Glass, Hazel
About the artist
Having spent two decades as a self-taught artist, Hazel Glass has always followed her own path. Preferring to gain inspiration through personal experience and varying cultures, she traveled extensively to study art around the globe before devoting several years to refining her skills at the Savannah College of Art & Design, and the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Though Hazel has called many places home over the years, she only ever really meant it about Portland, Oregon.
In her work she uses up to 81 layers of intricately cut paper to create otherworldly images with depth. Each layer of Hazel's originals are hand-cut using an xacto blade, building them up from 2D drawings into bas-relief sculptures. These precious windows into abstracted worlds reveal what Hazel firmly believes: Bigger is not better. She finds both the meticulous technical challenges and the resulting delicacy of working small too intriguing to ignore. Color plays an essential roll as well. Whether the palette is vibrant or subdued, it is an integral part of her work. And while the design is what Hazel's art is saying, color is the tone of voice through which each piece speaks.
